Posts tagged ‘Islam’

This is simply a reminder. Not a glorification, or a tribute of Br. Mikaeel (a.k.a Michael Jackson). He was a man. Spent his time on this Earth in his journey toward his final destination. He takes with him only that which he has collected in preperation for the Hereaftere. Let us remeber our mortality.

“To Allah we belong and to Him we shall return”

Surat al-Baqarah Ch. 2 Verse 156

Al-Fudhayl ibn Iyyâdh (May Allah have mercy on him) said to a man, “How many (years) have come upon you?” He replied, “Sixty years.” He said,“Therefore, for sixty years you have been going to your Lord and you are about to reach (Him).” So the man said, “To Allâh we belong and to Him we shall return!” So al-Fudhayl asked, “Do you know the meaning of that (statement)? You are saying, I belong to Allah as a servant and I am going to return to Him. So whoever knows that he belongs to Allah as a servant and that he will return to him, then he should know that he will be stopped. And whoever knows that he will be stopped, then he should know that he will be questioned. And whoever knows that he will be questioned, then let him prepare an answer for the question.”

Host: Omar (GreenKufi)

Quran

Discussion

GREEN:
In England we painted the town Green on Eid. Most Muslim flags are either green or contain green in it. Many minarets and domes on mosques around the world are green. The pulpits are often coloured green. We wear green clothing, and green kufis. We bind our books, most notably the print of the Quran, in Green.
Why is this? What is so special about this colour?

Well, the colour itself is a one we see very often around us. Almost every plant is green or some shade of it. Green is restful to the eye. Studies show that a green environment can reduce fatigue.

Green In the Quran:
If we look up in the Quran (try Quran.com), you’ll find the prescription of green in many places. And I’m just talking about the colour. Not plants.

Most importantly is that Allah subhanahu wa taala describes many of the blessing and rewards of paradise as green. HE says in Surat Al-Insaan:
{Their garments will be of fine green silk, and gold embroidery. They will be adorned with bracelets of silver, and their Lord will give them a pure drink.} 76:21 and in Surat ArRahman He says: {Is there any reward for good other than good? [] Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinns and men) deny? [] And besides these two, there are two other Gardens (i.e. in Paradise). [] Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinns and men) deny? [] Dark green (in colour).} 55:60-64. And as I said, this in only referring to the colour green. Not to plantations, which are mentions many time more.

Apparently, many Muslims nations choose green in their flags to represent the greenery of nature. Since it is a responsibility that Allah has entrusted us with, and He often commands us to ponder His creation. In fact, similar to many colours, that are given a distictive name, the green often used in Muslim symbols and the likes is referred to as Islamic Green.

Abu Ramthah said: “I saw the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) wearing two green garments.” (Reported by al-Tirmidhi, who said, this is a ghareeb hasan hadeeth, and by al-Nisaa’i, 5224).
Green is definitely something we often dress in, but why must this symbol of green simply be a garment. Why can’t we BE GREEN, as opposed to simply wearing it. I would go as far as to say that we should be like nature. Be like a tree. And leave others business alone. Now, before you tune out saying, “Phtt. Look at this Muslim Hippie, go hug a tree bro.” Listen to this what the prophet peace and blessing of Allah be upon him Had to say about this.
Narrated Ibn ‘Umar: The Prophet said, “The example of a believer is like a green tree, the leaves of which do not fall.” The people said. “It is such-and-such tree: It is such-and-such tree.” I intended to say that it was the datepalm tree, but I was a young boy and felt shy (to answer). The Prophet said, “It is the date-palm tree.” Ibn ‘Umar added, ” I told that to ‘Umar who said, ‘Had you said it, I would have preferred it to such-and such a thing.” (Book #73, Hadith #143) Always green.

Why aren’t we always green. Why must our greenness be deciduous like our kufis and hijabs in the evening when we reach home. Why aren’t we like the date palm, giving shade, beauty, fruits, shelter to all of Allah’s creation all of the time.

WHY MUST WE BE GREEN?
1- The environment, is Allah’s creation. The creation of this earth and all its natural resources is a sign of His wisdom, mercy, power and His other attributes and therefore serves to develop human awareness and understanding of this creator. (Ar-Ra`d, 13: 2-4; 21:79)

2- Muslims should seek to protect and preserve the environment because by so doing they protect Allah’s creatures which pray to Him and praise Him. Humankind might not be able to understand how these creatures praise Allah but this does not mean that they do not do so, Allah says: (The seven heavens and the earth, and all beings therein, declare His glory: There is not a thing but celebrates His praise, and yet ye understand not how they declare His Glory!) (Al-Israa’ 17: 44)

3- The environment contains Allah’s creatures which the Muslim scholars consider to also deserve protection.

4- Also among the reasons why Islam seeks to protect and preserve the environment is that Islam, as a way of life, is established on the concept of good (khayr). Therefore it is expected that Islam will protect the environment once it is understood that such protection is good by itself. The Qur’an states: (He whoso do good an atom’s weight will see it. And whoso do ill an atom’s weight will see it.) (Az-Zalzalah 99: 7-8)

In Islam, humans are expected to protect the environment since no other creature is able to perform this task. Humans are the only being that Allah has “entrusted” with the responsibility of looking after the earth. This trusteeship is seen by Islam to be so onerous and burdensome that no other creature would ‘accept’ it. Allah says: (Lo! We offered the trust unto the heavens and the earth and the hills, but they shrank from bearing it and were afraid of it and man assumed it Lo! he is a tyrant and fool.) (Al-Ahzab 33: 72)

Community News

Ottawa – A Muslim boy, Zaid, came in third place in the two kilometer race last weekend. He participated in the race from his school, from among over 1000 other runners from around Ottawa. We will be talking to him next week insh’Allah.

The relationship between human beings and his environment – Yousuf Estes [IslamicTube.net

Participants are invited for a post viewing discussion and refreshments

– an opportunity to share ideas and fellowship.

David Chernushenko will be in attendance

Doors open at 6:30pm
Film Screens at 7:00pm

JUNE 8th, 2009
at TempleIsrael

1301 Prince of Wales Drive

Yasir Naqvi MPP (Ottawa Centre) and the Ontario Trillium Foundation will be special guests to present the Trillium Foundation Award and support the launching of the third phase of the program to help faith communities Green their Sacred Spaces. Go back to the top

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Host: Ahmed Khalil

Discussion:

As the title of today’s show suggests we’re going to talk about black history from an Islamic perspective. Before we delve into this we need to think about if this is something that merits a Muslim perspective. The reality is that not only did Islam teach us about equality of all human beings regardless of their colour, which would be merit enough to give this topic some dedicated air time. But also, unfortunately racism and prejudice is still very much a Jaahily relic that manifests itself in the attitudes, actions, and words of many Muslims until this day. This of course has nothing to do with what Islam teaches us. In fact the prophet peace be upon him would condone the racist statements that early Muslim converts would utter in reference to the first Muathin of the Muslims who was of East African Decent.

The History of Islam in Africa (by Sulayman Nyang):

How Islam Made it’s way to North America in modern history: 30% of African slaves were Muslim.

Here is a documentary narrated and hosted by Dr. Abdullah Hakim Quick entitled Ethiopia an Islamic History.

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Host: Mafro (GreenKufi)

Discussion

The OC Transpo strike is in its seventh day now and there has been a lot of grief building up in the city. Many are finding extremely difficult to get to work, school, or the places they volunteer at. Especially those who rely heavily on the public transportation system to get around.

I spoke with one individual who was concerned about loosing her job because she couldn’t make it to work. There is a bit of recompense in these difficult times. There are many people who are resorting to carpooling in an effort to get to the places they need to be. This opens up a great opportunity to connect with the community and an excellent chance for Dawah, as one brother points out.
“You have asked Allah to give you an opportunity to make dawah to your non-Muslim neighbors and friends with a view to showing them the true Islam, and now the opportunity has fallen on your lap. Consider offering a ride to work to someone you don’t know during the current transit strike.” Says Br. Yahya .
If you are interested you can visit www.ottawacarpool.ca or http://www.ottawaridematch.com.
I might add, even if the strike is over and you find yourself still using your car, perhaps you could consider continuing with carpooling to work, or school, or wherever it is you are driving to.

Community News

The AMA (Assunnah Muslims Association) has some exciting news.

The progress of the Islamic Center Project has completed its second phase. The Second Phase Consisted of preparing the land for building, establishing services to the site (e.g., watermain, sanitary sewers, storm sewers, etc) and establishing roads and parking lots.

Alhamdulillah, all these components have been completed and the site is ready to build the Masjid.

You can see the latest photos here. And if you poke around you can find their presentation

We pray that Allah makes it easy to finish building the Masjid.

Please consider donating to get the reward from Allah of a SADAQA JARIYAH…

Unfortunately, a beautiful little forest had to be cut down to create this Masjid.

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Al-Maghrib Institute wishes everyone a Eid Mubarak!

May Allah (swt) accept from you and your families and shower you with His forgiveness.

With the Grace of Allah, we have planned for you a very exciting 2009 with so much coming your way. Here are only some of what we have in store:

Global Muslim News

Michael (now Mikaeel) Jackson Converts to Islam, finally. The now “Malik” of Pop was counseled by David Wharnsby, a Canadian songwriter, and Phillip Bubal, a producer, who have both converted. He took his shahada in the presence of Dawud Wharsnby, Yusuf Islam, and Idris Phillips. Of course we all know that the Shahada is pledging elegance to submitting to Allah’s will and command, and not an elegance to the “Koran”, as many of these reports have mentioned.
Also, It seems as though the law suite against the new convert to Islam has been settled outside of court.
I wonder if people are going to start saying that men are oppressed in Islam because of (dare I say – [Br.]) Micheal’s antics (or should he be Uncle Michael) of wearing the Niqab? (No, wait, it should be Aunti Mikaeel – yeah – that sounds about right) – {I made a funny}

Moment of Zen“Subhan Allah! That Actually happened”

Has anyone seen this crazy video where an Iraqi Journalist throws his shoes at Bush? This is Crazy. What if he had a weapon!!! How did the Secret service not stop this guy. Wow. That’s all I’m going to say.

Apparently this has stirred a bit of a discussion in the world; with words like “shoegate” and questions like:

“Why did he throw his shoes?” “What does a shoe represent in Arab culture?” “Is a wing tip shoe more of a statement than a sandal?” “Did the reporter throw the shoes he was wearing or do Arabs carry spare shoes with them to throw when they are angry?”Go back to the top

Equality of Men and Women in Islam (the Reality)
In the collection of Hadiths of Imam Ahmad was narrated the Hadith that Um Salama (May Allah be pleased with her) said: “I said “O Messenger (May peace and blessings be upon him) of Allah. Why aren’t we mentioned in the Quran in an equal footing with men?” Then; I was surprised to hear Him call one day from the pulpit: “O people.” As I was combing my hair at the moment, I wrapped it up and came close to the door and stood there listening to Him say: “Allah, Mighty and Sublime be He, revealed that (For Muslim men and women; for believing men and women; for devout men and women, for true men and women; for men and women who are patient and constant; for men and women who humble themselves; for men and women who give in charity; for men and women who fast; for men and women who guard their chastity; and for men and women who engage much in Allah’s remembrance for them has Allah prepared forgiveness and great reward.) Verse 35, Surat al-Ahzab, or the Confederates – From Islam QA